Hiya! I'm planning on making a cosplay with several large gemstones that glow... Only thing is I'm not sure I want to use LEDs because of how obvious the one point of light is in the resin? Other cosplayers I've seen do the costume I've noticed have used LEDs and in photos the gems looks like they just have white dots in them...

So, since I'm not aiming to have the gems glow in a very obvious or 'in your face' sort of way, I was wondering if mixing phosphorescent powder with the resin dye would work? Has anyone tried this before?

I'm not too aware of phosphorescent powder, but to my understanding phosphorous is only reactive to black light or UV light which will allow it to glow hence why all white T-shirts tend to do that. So if it's supposed to shine like that then that fines.

You're on the right track as you can mix resin with different combination of things to generate different kinds of effects. Since I don't know what exactly the item in question is, I can't really give better alternatives.

So I hope this helped.

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@Midnight Dawn - These are the powders I was talking about and the sellers have demonstrated that they do glow without a UV light but have time limits that vary according to colour. Apparently they glow brighter and last longer if you use a UV light but I'm not sure that's an option for me... I'm planning cosplaying the Blue Serpent armour for female Elementalists in Granado Espada.

So the majority of the gems are aqua/teal and there are some pink/coral ones. If I use the glow the dark powder I'm sure the teal gems will glow nicely but I'm a bit worried about the coral ones as there is red powder but it doesn't glow as strongly nor does it last very long. Not to mention since the powders are white and once mixed in the resin dry clear, I'd have to mix in some dye to add colour to the gems under normal light - Not too sure if the dye would then mute the glow or not...

@Peach93cc - Yes I have seen that tutorial but as you can see the LED is very clearly visible at the centre of the resin...

Does anyone know if by making the gems a bit foggy/semi-opaque the LED dot of light is less obvious and more suffused??

If you make a clear resin gem with glass colour on the base(if it has a flat base attached to something that is) and then put the LED behind it instead of inside, it seems to solve that problem

Oh that looks lovely!

Most of the jewels in this costume don't really have a base... Do you think if I made the gem first then coated the back with another layer of resin and stuck the LED into that it might work? Or would I end up with blue/pink gems with a glowing white strip at the base? o_o;

Does anyone know if by making the gems a bit foggy/semi-opaque the LED dot of light is less obvious and more suffused??

Yes. The two ways you can diffuse a hot point is either with an opaque layer, or by using a resin with a lot of air bubbles. The gems in your reference material look like they're opaque, not crystal clear, so you'd either want to shape a sheet of acrylic sheet with a 50% opacity, pressure cast a clear resin with an added white pigment, or try various ways of diffusing the surface of the gemstone with a layer of something, like heavy sanding scratches, embedded rice paper/tissue paper, or a spray on window frosting.

I've experimented with lighting gemstones and LED covers quite a bit with mixed results.

This was a project I did that used .25" opaque acryllic sheets with 50% opacity. The LEDs were directly behind the acrylic and diffused very nicely to the point where it would almost completely diffuse a hot point from the LED touching the acrylic, or even out a spot light from a distance that shone at an odd angle on more surface.http://youtu.be/HbIOBeMndeg?t=1m28s

But I guess it depends on your skill level, arsenal of tools, and budget. How were you planning on making the gemstones?

Yes. The two ways you can diffuse a hot point is either with an opaque layer, or by using a resin with a lot of air bubbles. The gems in your reference material look like they're opaque, not crystal clear, so you'd either want to shape a sheet of acrylic sheet with a 50% opacity, pressure cast a clear resin with an added white pigment, or try various ways of diffusing the surface of the gemstone with a layer of something, like heavy sanding scratches, embedded rice paper/tissue paper, or a spray on window frosting.

I've experimented with lighting gemstones and LED covers quite a bit with mixed results.

This was a project I did that used .25" opaque acryllic sheets with 50% opacity. The LEDs were directly behind the acrylic and diffused very nicely to the point where it would almost completely diffuse a hot point from the LED touching the acrylic, or even out a spot light from a distance that shone at an odd angle on more surface.http://youtu.be/HbIOBeMndeg?t=1m28s

But I guess it depends on your skill level, arsenal of tools, and budget. How were you planning on making the gemstones?

I have zero experience with casting but I can sculpt so I was planning on making the moulds with silicon putty and casting the actual gems with easy cast clear. I was considering adding the colour by mixing acrylic paint with the resin, actually, because someone was experimenting with alternate dye methods and the acrylic paint mixed well and created a semi-opaque result... But yeah, not sure how the light would shine through it, if it would diffuse properly or not. I'm a complete noob with LEDs though I have a friend who says she can help with wiring it up and hopefully I remember enough from DT classes that I can not be at a total loss... I'd rather not spend more than $100 on the gems + lighting of this costume but since I'm in Aus where everything is double the price elsewhere... ^^;